§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will estimate the proportion of people in each region who are served by(a) broadband-enabled telephone exchanges, (b) cabled-based 70W broadband services and (c) either of the above: and if she will estimate the numbers in each category who make use of that facility. [74849]
§ Mr. TimmsAs of the end of June 2002, the proportion of the population in each region and nation able to access broadband through DSL enabled exchanges, cable modem services, and in total, was estimated by independent consultants to be as follows:
Per cent households with broadband access Region/Nation DSL Cable modem Total North East 64 43 72 North West 66 52 75 Yorkshire and Humber 59 42 64 West Midlands 68 53 75 East Midlands 55 39 61 East of England 54 36 57 South West 48 22 51 South East 66 33 68 London 98 53 98 Scotland 39 3 53 Wales 32 24 38 Northern Ireland 46 30 47 Oftel figures for September 2002 show the number of broadband users nationally was over 885,000, of which around 390,000 used ADSL and 490,000 used cable. Since then, Oftel have announced that there are now in excess of one million broadband users in the UK.